Updates from X Bubbler Contents: | Biotech quotes By t on Feb 15, 2021 07:38 am featuring: Professor Sarah Gilbert and Professor Andrew Pollard, who were key figures in the development of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.
"I learned how to design a vaccine, get it manufactured, get approvals for a clinical trial and get that clinical trial up and running,"
"Yes, it's really heartening to see the NHS getting this vaccine out to so many people, but we haven't fully used all the knowledge we have about coronaviruses. For example, we are still talking about the dangers of airborne viruses spreading in quarantine hotels. It has been known since the Mers outbreak in South Korea in 2015 that coronaviruses spread through the air.
As to the kind of future that vaccines will give us, both Gilbert and Pollard are optimistic. "We might be able to live with Covid-19 as we do with other coronaviruses that infect us in childhood," said Pollard. "I would be quite happy if I just get a cold with this virus in future – as long as we stop people dying from it. And the vaccines we have may be enough to achieve that. However, if the disease turns out to be more like flu, we may have to regularly update vaccines to maintain immunity in the population.
"That will be a huge problem if we have to do it for all age groups every year. However, I think there's a reasonable chance that won't be necessary and only the most vulnerable will need the vaccine every year, one that could be combined with flu vaccine in the future."
"It is only when you go outside the office, you realise the whole world knows about clinical trials and safety reporting and regulators in a way that they never did before. It seems everyone is watching what we're doing – which is not an experience I have ever had before. Indeed it's always been quite difficult to persuade people to take an interest in my work!"
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